Chivalry
by Bolvar87
Summary: 15 years after the devastating events of the last Fuyuki Grail War, under pressure, the Mage Association decided to re-enact the Holy Grail War. James Dragonheart, a young knight with one of the Church's Chivalric Orders, was chosen as the impartial arbitrator of this time's Grail War. However, the young knight will soon learn, that one cannot simply forget the past.
1. 00 - Prologue

**This is a non-profit work of (fan-) fiction based on the ****Fate series****. - Please support the original work****s**** by ****Type Moon****. Any resemblance to actual persons, ****excluding historical ****figures, living or dead is purely coincidental.**

* * *

'Pater Noster, qui es in caelis. Sanctificetur nomen tuum' A young knight in full plate armor prayed silently in front of his sword. 'Adveniat regnum tuum […]

Right now, the knight was the only occupant of Temple Church, which was only dimly lit by a mixture of the moonlight, that came through the windows, some candles, and illuminated parts of the knight's armor, like the cross on the chest plate.

It was rare for him to come to London, so he decided to take the opportunity and see Temple Church at night, during its usual closing hours.

However, the true reason for his presence in London was not as pleasant as just sightseeing.

As if they had not learned from past mistakes, the Mage Association had the ''brilliant'' idea of re-assembling the Fuyuki Grail, and start another one of their little death games.

And while they were claiming, that whatever had previously polluted it was thoroughly purged, the young adult still had a bad feeling about it.

And yet again, the Holy Church was asked to be their mediator.

However, with two mediators having been killed in the past, the Church decided to take a more secure approach this time and choose a member of his order to oversee this particular Grail War.

Considering that his predecessor, Kotomine Kirei, was an Executor, the decision was completely understandable. The moment someone who'd usually be charged with hunting demons or vampires gets killed, the only logical choice for their replacement would be sending in their heavy troops.

As a holy knight, he seemed like a good match for whatever he might have to face, be it Servant or even Dead Apostle. At the same time he and his order were able to perform magic the Church deemed holy.

Another plus side of it was, that they were, similar to Executors, not bound by the same rules as Priests. The knight himself, for example, was actually engaged.

Still, he didn't like this assignment at all and would have rather spent time with his fiance, than watching over magi's behavior in the middle of winter.

'[…] Amen' He ended his prayer, pulled himself up and finally sheathed his sword.

As he was passing the candles on his way out, he suddenly stopped in his track, resulting in the candlelight merging beautifully with the golden light his powered armor gave off.

'I guess it can't hurt' he thought out loud and went to light a candle for his elder sister. 'I wonder what happened to you, before... You know...Selena… I miss you.'

Eventually, he crossed himself and continued his way out of the church.

As a middle child between one of the Holy Church's Paladins and a mage, he was mostly raised to be a knight by his father, while his sisters were raised to be magi. In fact, his younger sister, Emilia, currently studied magic in the Clocktower. All of this was an agreement struck between his grandparents when they allowed their parent's marriage.

However, at some point his elder sister and mother had a huge fight, resulting in his sister first being thrown out of the castle, and later having to give up her Crest to his younger sister, who then became the new heir to the mage line of his family.

When they met again two years later, Selena was already on the verge of death and perished soon after that.

'What does being a noble help when you can't even save your own sister…' the Grandmaster's son whispered as he closed the heavy wooden round door behind him.

Not too far away, on the nearby parking lot, two more knights were already waiting on him near a large van.

The moment he approached, both of them bowed slightly, 'My Lord.' and opened up the backside of the long armored van.

'To the Clocktower then, I guess…' he ordered while climbing into the car.

The interior was split up into three compartments. First, there was the driver's cabin, that was currently being occupied by the two knights. Then there was the normal sitting compartment, that was roughly inspired by a limousine, going as far as housing even bookshelves. That was the compartment the knight was currently in. Last but not least, there was the rear compartment, housing mission-critical equipment and places for up to four sets of armor as well as various weapons.

'Are you sure about going to the clock tower in your armor, My Lord?' A silver-haired, red-eyed woman in a maid uniform asked while placing a glass of prune juice on the table to the knight's left.

'Thank you, Lorelei. And yes, I want them to understand that, unlike my predecessors, I mean business.' He answered in a calm, yet stern voice while taking a sip from the prune juice. 'Besides, remember, this isn't an ordinary Grail War, twice as many Servant's twice as many Masters.' The knight then paused for a moment and smiled with closed eyes, 'Which is also precisely why I got all the Command Seals the Holy Church could get, as well as this little thing' he added while gently hitting a book, that was chained to the left side of his armor.

'It's too bad they didn't give you a more offensive Noble Phantasm instead, My Lord.'

'Yeah...I'd prefer a sword-type Noble Phantasm too, but there is nothing that can be done about that.' he said while looking out of the window and then continued while looking at the Thames. 'After all, my ancestor did his utmost to not become a heroic spirit – period. So there is no telling where his sword would even be… I just wonder why…'

Then he saw his servant's reflection of the window and turned towards her, while she smiled at him. 'He was probably just really tired of all the fighting and just wanted to rest in peace.'

'Are you sure it's not because he couldn't stomach seeing that woman burn on the stake?' he sighed.

Suddenly the care stopped, and soon after the two knights opened the door, interrupting their conversation as they had to leave the vehicle.

'I wonder if Emilia is still up...' he chuckled.

'If she is, you are ought to scold her properly, My Lord.' Lorelei said in a strict tone as if she was telling an elder child not to be too lenient with their younger siblings.

'I know, I know… I'm not a child anymore, you know Lorelei?' he said in a low, almost sulking voice. 'More importantly, I think the vice director's name is Lorelei too. Do you want me to call you by your full name while we are in there?' he tried switching the topic.

'Please don't. I've been just Lorelei for a very long time now, besides it's too long.'

'Too bad… Your full name has a really nice ring to it.' he answered truthfully while smiling at her.

'If you keep this up, My Lord, your fiance is going to be jealous.'

Despite the late hour, the Clocktower's halls were still rather busy with students and faculty alike, so the heavily armored knights quickly became the cause of whispers among the students, much to the dismay of not only the magus, who was charged with escorting them, but also their professors, who tried to keep them in line.

The intentions of the Grandmaster's son sure bore fruit, and wherever they appeared, the air instantly tensed up, until the magus finally complained. 'Can you at least take off those helmets?

Eventually, he sighed and released the connections, while Lorelei had already moved her arms and hands in a position that clearly waited for the object to be placed in.

'Those two will keep theirs on though.' He stated bluntly while handing Lorelei his helmet. 'Thank you, Lorelei.'

Afterward, they kept walking for a while until they arrived at their target, a large double door, that leads into the vice director's office.

* * *

What followed was a two-hour discussion with the 13 Lords of the Mage Association, including some name droppings, regarding the participants.

Some of the participants were, of course, no surprise to him, such as the Einzbern family, however, not all of them were known yet. Some other names on the other hand simply left him with a sour taste in his mouth. For today, however, they decided to let the discussion go and continue tomorrow morning.

As they walked the way back, the young knight clenched his fist. While they readily gave him some names, he was certain, that they were actually keeping vital information from him and, on top, played delaying tactics.

'James!' A familiar voice suddenly sounded through the hallway, while fast footsteps could be heard from behind him.

The Lord knight sighed, as he heard his sister's voice, but didn't let his trek stop.

'Shouldn't we wait for the young, miss, My Lord?' Lorelei suggested, while still holding the helmet in her arms as if it was an important treasure.

'We keep walking.' he answered shortly, but also resolute.

However, his younger sister was nothing but persistent and wouldn't stop running after, and, calling out to him, eventually forcing them to stop, when she somehow made it past them, causing even more of a turmoil then by just casually calling out to the leader of their group.

'Can you stop already?' she panted while giving her elder brother James a sour look.

James sighed and his face darkened as he looked at the dragon-head shaped Command Spells on the back of her hand and then let out a clearly sigh loud enough for everyone to hear, 'The registration for the Grail War isn't open yet, magi.' while being rather formal and annoyed at the same time. 'Should you, however, wish to yield your right as a Master, I shall safe myself the time and perform that particular spell right now. Just know that it will hurt.'

'Not funny, James...' Emilia replied as if what he said was just a joke, but her expression clearly showed uncertainty the moment she looked in her brother's unwavering eyes.

However, James just kept giving her a rather annoyed look, devoid of any affection towards his younger sibling, which eventually caused Lorelei to speak up in his stead. 'What your brother is trying to tell you, Lady Emilia is that he is an impartial judge in this endeavor. As such, speaking with you on unofficial business would be highly inappropriate, not only for him but also for yourself.'

'You two are joking, are you?!' she complained weakly in disbelieve, having already drawn the attention of a swarm of spectators.

'I will have no more of this,' James intervened before Lorelei could say anything else. 'From now on, to the point where you either drop out of your own, win or lose you are nothing but just another magi to me. Is that finally enough to get through your thick skull or do you intend to further embarrass yourself?' He paused for a bit to give her a chance to answer but continued when she was too shocked to react. 'Joining this lunacy was your own decision, now deal with the consequences and stop being an embarrassment.'

'And you think mediating it is any better?' she said with tears forming in her eyes. 'The last two mediators even got themselves killed.'

'The difference between us is that I've been tasked with this, while you willingly choose to be a part of this -' James started but then quickly drew his sword out, barely blocking the incoming black and purple scythe with the underside of his sword's guard, reinforced by the knight's hellbards.

Despite making an effort to look unfazed, James had to admit to himself, that he wouldn't have been able to block this attack as easily had it not been for the help of his guards. James looked at the girl in front of him and was astounded at her beauty.

While her face was partially obscured by a black hood, that indicated some sort of horns or animal ears, from the only angle he could look at her, he could still make out her strangle natural-looking light purple hair.

From her height, James put her around the same age as his sister, although slightly taller, putting her closer to 165cm, compared to his sister's 162cm, meaning she'd probably be around 14 or 16.

'And who are you supposed to be?' James asked calmly while his hand was still holding his sword on the blade. 'The Grim Reaper?'

Of course, the Servant didn't answer and only put slightly more pressure on her scythe, but nothing good enough to break through the threefold defense he and his knights had put up.

However, that wasn't surprising at all. He knew his sister well enough to know that she never actually intended to have her Servant give him more than perhaps a slight cut in the first place, and thus just wanted to give him a bit of a scare.

And yet, he was in no position to take this situation with a laugh.  
In his current position, it was an affront to his authority as mediator, especially with all the magi watching right now, and failing to respond accordingly would not only undermine his own authority in the Grail War but also that of all Chivalric Orders and the Holy Church as a whole. Therefore, the only thing that remained was retaliation.

Before his sister could even make an attempt to lampoon the situation, he signed the knights to release their hellbards, only to shove the Servant's scythe up at the same moment. Following, he turned his sword into the correct position and, totally surprising the Servant in front.

What followed afterward, not only came as a surprise to the Servant, but also the surrounding magi. James pushed something akin to a button on his left gauntlet, which caused a shield to emerge, while the young knight himself fearlessly charged at the Servant.

Despite Lancer's best efforts, she was unable to block James shield-bash and received the full force of the blow, when he lowered his shield and rammed the sword's pommel right into her stomach.

Due to the force of the impact, Lancer got sent flying backwards, and eventually crashed into a wall behind her.

'Lancer!' Emilia cried out and rushed over to her Servant, who tried to get up again before looking at her Master's brother with an angry expression. 'She was just joking! Was that really necessary?!'

James paused for a moment to let the situation sink into the mages' minds, while Emilia stopped her Servant from beginning an actual fight with her brother.

Emilia's fellow students chattered in disbelieve. A human hurting a Servant wasn't something that should not be something possible, and yet, for some reason, Lancer visibly felt that blow.

Once James was satisfied with the result, he spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear, which included members of the faculty checking what the commotion was about. 'Let me clarify something in advance for everyone here, sister. If anyone here thinks I'm one of those jokesters from the Executor's department or that lazy-arse Burial Agency, you are terribly wrong. If someone dares to attack me, the arbitrator of this Grail War, they are in for a nasty surprise. I don't give a damn about whether they are my sister, a demon, a Servant or even a Death Apostle. 'He kept going on with the same firm, yet strict tone. 'That includes any childish pranks by my sister or her Servant.'

James rant had certainly had it's desired effect on the students. While the exact contents were impossible to discern, since even more chattering had filled the hallway by now, neither of them had seen a human charge at a Servant, no less one of the three knight classes, without hesitation before.

Emilia's Lancer on the other hand still didn't feel like just taking the blow either, and Emilia actually had to threaten her with using a Command Spell before she finally became obedient again. Instead, the Servant just glared at him, and while he didn't show it, her glare gave him an uncomfortable feeling of doom.

While James had made his attack seem easy, there were actually several factors that working to his advantage.

For once, if family legacy was to be believed, the siblings descended from someone who might, by all rights, be a Heroic Spirit themselves, had he not done everything in his power to let his legacy vanish into history, due to some unknown reason. Moreover, there were rumors about dragon blood running through their family's veins. In any event, he couldn't think of a single member of his family that didn't have a high amount of mana, barring maybe the ones who married in.

Secondly, while not Noble Phantasms, his order's arms, and armor were not only blessed but also crafted using otherwise long-forgotten techniques and magical alloys, resulting in them being a Match for the average Noble Phantasm.

Last but not least, the Lancer-Class Servant clearly didn't expect him to strike back, so he technically took her by surprise.

Taking all these factors into consideration it was no wonder, that acquainting the Servant's back with the Clocktower's walls seemed much easier than it would have normally been.

Suddenly, loud clapping echoed through the hallway, as a mage in a long and blonde female mage, in fancy robes appeared. 'Thank you, Arbitrator, of the Grail War, for this splendid display of what of how a fight in the Grail War would affect its immediate surroundings. However, I am afraid the demonstration will have to stop here. Even the Clocktower's walls can't take the full force of a Noble Phantasm.' Then, the woman bent her hand back towards the courtyard. 'If the two of you still wish to keep your demonstration going, the courtyard might be a suitable place.'

'Tch.' James sounded before signing his companions to move on, but then stopped right next to Emilia. 'Since the two of you instigated this mess,' he obviously referred to the crater in the wall and the surrounding bricks on the floor. 'I'll leave you to clean it up on your own too.' Then his voice a little bit softer, but also barely hearable, so only his sister and her Servant would hear it, 'Don't you dare making me bury another sister…' and then moved on to leave the Association's stronghold.

The moment they had re-entered the vehicle, James wheezed. 'That Melloi woman blowing over the awe was certainly annoying.'

'Well, even though it was the result of Lady Emilia's childish prank, we still did damage the structure.' Lorelei noted in a neutral tone.

'Don't let me get started… I'm mad enough as it is. Knowing mother, she probably even endorsed Emilia to this foolery.

Lorelei giggled. 'Like your father endorsed you to take the mantle of the mediator?'

'Yeah… She is probably having a good laugh at father's cost at the moment, I just wish she'd be a bit more concerned about her children's well being…' James sighed. 'Sometimes I really wonder how their relationship actually works… Thinking Cecilia and I might end up like that too scares the hell out of me…'

'You mustn't say this, young Lord.' Lorelei scolded him. 'I got to know a lot of people throughout the ages, and even though she may not always show it, you can believe me when I tell you, that your mother has nothing but love for you and your sister.'

'Yeah… The two of us…' James mumbled while looking out of the window.

'You shouldn't worry too much about it. Lady Cecilia and you make a great couple, and she is a magus too.'

'Yeah...I wouldn't describe her as a typical though… Even big sis could be rather selfish at times…'

'Huh?' Lorelei sounded with a mixture of annoyance and surprise. 'Have you already forgotten how she used to demand your full attention the entire day when you were younger?! Every time she was at the castle, Lady Selena couldn't even sit next to you without her getting in between.'

'I had totally forgotten that happened… Still, I'm lucky to have her… When mom told me that she had arranged a marriage for me I was really worried I'd get some self-centered, calculating she-goat, who only wanted to marry into mother's magi line.'

'Well, Lady Cecilia was a bit selfish as a child. I guess she realized that being like that won't get her anywhere.' Lorelei laughed while holding with her right hand under her lips. 'You don't have to worry though. As a woman, I can assure you that she likes you just as much as she says.'

'Thank you… Especially for talking me out of outright refusing her…' he said while still looking out of the window.

The maid giggled. 'You are welcome, My Lord.'

James blushed a bit and quickly changed the topic while beginning to remove the plates of his armor. 'At least we learned, that my sister summoned a Lancer. So she might actually survive.'

'That isn't something you should joke about, young Lord.' Lorelei scolded again. 'There are Servants specializing in going after Masters and even then, we don't even know who her Servant is or what she can do.'

'Well if she isn't supposed to be some sad joke of the Grim Reaper, you guess is as good as mine. It's good we could clear up her class though, with that scythe she could have been anything. Can you please note it down in the book.'

'As you wish.' She said while grabbing an official-looking book and then wrote Emilia's Name and her Servant's class into it, resulting in the words lighting up in a red glow for a moment, and changed to an actual entry.

**Servant – Lancer II**

True Name: ?

Alignment: ?

Source: ?

Master: Emilia Dragonheart

**Parameter(Parameter - Rank): **

Strength: ?

Endurance: ?

Agility: ?

Mana: ?

Luck: ?

NP: ?

**Class Skills(Skill - Rank):**

magic Resistance: ?

?: ?

**Personal Skills(Skill - Rank):**

?: ?

**Noble Phantasm(Noble Phantasm - Rank):**

?: ?

'I guess this makes me the first mediator in history, to know both the name of the Master and their Servant's class before the Grail War even started.'

'I am pretty sure the last ones knew it too, one was a Master himself while the other was their father, so unless Kotomine Kirei summoned his Servant only shortly before the start of the Grail War, his father probably knew.' Lorelei noted casually.

'That doesn't count.' James declared. 'Anyway, one down 13 to go.'

* * *

Three weeks after the events at the Clocktower, James jet landed an airport close to Fuyuki City.

Originally, the Mage Association wanted to tap into the Ley Line on the British Island instead, but the Holy Church objected and also reminded them, that it would mean the Grail war to happen right in the middle of London, which would not only put every civilian there but also every magus at risk. In the end, thee Association gave in and moved the Grail back where it originally belonged. Meanwhile, the Holy Church sealed off the entrance to the cave and put so many seals and barriers upon it, that even the most powerful Servants would have trouble breaking through.

'So who did they send to assist me?' James asked Lorelei casually while leaving the private jet.

Lorelei checked her notes. 'Oh my…'

'Don't ''Oh my'' me. Who is it?'

'A top-class, experienced female Exorcist, who has already assisted the order in the past.' Lorelei avoided the issue sheepishly and changed the subject while they completed the de-boarding process. 'That being said, they already started securing the parameter together with the knights we have sent in advance.

'Well, at least they did their work. So say, Lorelei, who is that charming Exorc-' James started, but then immediately fell silent as they left the airport and saw a light grey-haired woman wearing fitting church attire waiting for them with a sign in her hand, right next to the exit.. 'Caren…' James sighed. _'Why, of all people, did it have to be that damn demon detector?'_

'That is my name, yes.' the silver-haired woman answered truthfully, in a condescending tone, making it sound as if he should be praised for being capable to remember her name. 'You are late.'

'Air friction is a thing, you know?'

The Exorcist sighed and kept going in the same tone as earlier. 'That is why you are supposed to take an earlier plane. Haven't you heard anything of time management before?'

'Oh Lord,' James prayed. 'Why do you have to test my patience, by sending me this foul-mouthed and utterly annoying woman instead of a Death Apostle Ancestor.'

'Oh Lord, please forgive this man's tardiness, and do not punish him too harshly for not knowing the obvious.' Caren actually prayed in all seriousness, and then coughed into her fist. 'Anyway, do you at least know about the left-over Servant or do I have to explain that to you too?'

'Only because you can't memorize things properly, doesn't mean others can't either.' James retorted, and added as a provocation on his side. 'You do still know that it's 2019, do you?'

Despite what their banter suggested, the knight actually didn't really resent the woman named Caren Hortensia, despite her twisted personality. However, he also wasn't one to let her provocations slide either, so exchanges like this were rather common whenever the two worked together. Despite her being the one on the provocative side, Caren is actually several years older than James, 29 to be precise, in other words, eight years old than him. However, despite her being older, she was also around 15 cm smaller than James, putting her at 167cm, while James was 182 cm tall.

Since her general health wasn't that good, people were often under the impression that she'd be all but skin and bones under her robes, but shaking her hand was more than enough to dispel that misconception.

'Hmpf. If you are always this charming to woman, it's no wonder your mother had to find someone for you. '

'And if you'd keep your mean spirited mouth under control for a change, you might actually have a chance of people being nicer to you too.' James sighed. 'Either way, I don't care for the Matou woman, less she decides to join the Grail War or seeks the sanctity of the church. Until either of those things happen, or if she becomes a problem, I couldn't care less for a former Master.'

'Is it really wise to ignore her though?' Lorelei whispered into James' ear. 'Technically she and her Servant did win the last Grail war. Moreover, she seems to possess enough magical energy to keep her Servant around at full power, even without the Grail being around.'

'Which is exactly why ignoring her is the dumbest thing you ever did, and that means a lot.' Caren, who apparently still heard Lorelei, cut in.

'I can deal with Dead Apostles, and I can most certainly deal with a single mage and a Rider.' James said annoyed in a finalizing tone. ' So unless she, or any of the other former Masters, become a threat I refuse to waste valuable resources on them. Put their names into the book as a precautionary measure if you have to, otherwise drop it.'

Matou Sakura, Servant Rider. Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin. ' the Exorcist took the invitation immediately, causing James to sigh, while Lorelei actually wrote their names down, albeit writing them first name first.

'Anything else I should know about?' James asked impatiently.

You can help to purify the church… Oh, and it needs to be re sanctified too.'

'Are you seriously not done with that yer? You had several weeks, damn it.' James looked at her in disbelieve.

'Of which the majority went into renovations.' Caren clarified and gave him an unamused gaze. 'Do you have any idea how run down that building was after not having been in use for more than a decade? Besides, removing the shadows of what happened there before isn't something for one person to do, and your valiant knights refused to do anything but erecting barriers.'

James massaged his temples.' Fine, I'll help. Just don't think I'm doing you a favor here. I just don't want the wards, we've just erected, to get weaker from the inside.

'Smart move for a change. However, there is no reason to act like a tsundere.' Caren smiled.

'A what? No… Don't tell me. I don't even want to know.' James sighed. 'Oh Lord…'

'By the by.' Caren started and produced three hilt-like objects without a blade attached to them from her robe. 'You don't have to thank me, just take them.'

'I got a proper sword, why would I need those fragile pieces of garbage?!' He underlined his refusal by making stop sign with his hand to further indicate his rejection.'

'And how do you plan on carrying that around with you in public?' Caren said in a taunting tone. 'Please don't tell me you were seriously thinking of walking through the city in your armor. How foolish can you be?'

'Or... I'll just use a special case, so no one knows what's inside until it suddenly springs out of it, and don't have to rely on your fragile Black key garbage.'

'Taking them with you still can't hurt so just shut up and take them.' The fake priestess literally shoved them in his face.

'Fine. Thank you.' James took them with a sarcastic undertone and then passed them on to Lorelei.

'Good boy, here have a treat.' Caren said and got a bone-shaped cake out of her robe.

However, before James could retort, a van of the same model they used in London finally stopped in front of them, and they went on to board their ride instead, completely forgetting about Caren's last transgression while the latter seemed to silently apologize to god for her behavior.

In the meantime, their luggage and cargo had been loaded onto the van, and one of the knights stayed in back, unloading James' armor onto its mount.

For the rest of the drive, no one talked.

Both James and Lorelei felt the jet-lag and dozed off in their seats, while Caren took the liberty to read a book in almost complete silence.

When they finally arrived, at Kotomine Church, it was already dark outside, making the barely lit church and cemetery look rather eerie, especially with the hints of ominous fog surrounding it. Additionally, while most people would probably not notice it, the aura the area gave off due to its dark history only reinforced the impression of the church being haunted, which was probably not too far off.

'James yawned as he jumped off the vehicle, but felt immediately alarmed the moment he felt the aura surrounding the area, however at the same time he understood why his Knights had prioritized putting up a few layers of protection first before taking care of something that wasn't able to harm them. 'Ok… That will need some serious cleansing.'

'As I told you…' Caren noted, while gracefully hopping out of the van.

'Well then… Let's do some serious cleansing...' He said and then ordered the knight who stayed in the back with them. ' Let the others take care of the wards on their own and help us out with the cleansing. I can't have this hallowed ground stay sullied like that.' then he addressed the other knight. 'Place the vehicle in the garage, we can unload it later.'

'Yes, My Lord.' the knights replied in unison.

'Now…' James whispered while looking at a still sleeping Lorelei. 'I really can't let you sleep here can I?'

Once James had gently carried Lorelei up into her future room, he joined Caren and the knight in removing the shadows of the past from the former place of prayer.

It took hours until they finally decided to take a break in the former mediators, and now James' study, while James sent the knight to take a rest until the morning.

'Now, if we keep going like that, we should be able done by tomorrow morning, even if we let the others take care of the wards in the meantime.' James said while pouring some wine into their glasses.

'As long as we'll be done by the start of the Grail War, that shouldn't be an issue.' Caren slid into armchair totally exhausted. 'I wouldn't be this efficient at cleansing places. It looks like you do deserve praise from time to time after all.' Caren wanted to grab another dog cake out of her robe but grabbed the glass instead in the last moment.

'I see your health still hasn't improved since last time.' James sighed. 'You can turn in too for today. I can finish the rest of today's workload on my own.'

'No way!' Caren complained, 'You'll just screw it up and put it on me if anything goes wrong.' and then pushed herself up from the armchair. 'More importantly, undress.'

'Pardon?!' James spewed some of his wine out. 'Did you get drunk?!'

'As if.' She said while bending forward, enough for her eyes to look into his face while supporting her hips with her hands. 'I need to check whether those Command Seals were properly applied to you.' then she suddenly acted coyly.' But if you really want we can do other stuff afterward.'

'I don't!' James blushed and shouted back at her. 'Also the Command Seals were applied properly, no need to check. End of discussion!'

'Fine,' Caren sighed,'you leave me no choice then..' and brought a red band forth from her robe.


	2. 02 - Silence before the Storm

'Thank you.' the twin-tailed Servant with light purple hair faked an innocent smile at the man she had tricked into carrying all if her and her Master's luggage for them.

'Everything for you, My Goddess.' the man said before being dismissed by the Servant.

'Merci.' the blonde woman waved him goodbye with a defeated look and faked a smile too.

'Men are so easy, thee-he.' the Servant chuckled.

'Arch-!' she snapped but then lowered her voice and coughed. 'Euryale!'

'Is something amiss, Master?' The twin-tail smiled back at her sheepishly 'It's only natural for humans to serve their goddess, isn't it?' the Servant asked while bending her head to the side.

_'You could have at least helped him!'_W the blonde woman chastised her Servant via their Mental link while getting into a cab.

When Cecilia performed the summoning ritual two weeks back, she would have never thought that a servant would actually answer her call, much less a bona fidei goddess, which shouldn't even be possible, to begin with. And yet, here she was, sitting next to Euryale, one of the Gorgon Sisters from Greek mythology, having to deal with her antics. And if she was completely honest, Cecilia would have actually expected someone… more snake~ish. However, the real problem with this, supposedly, ideal goddess wasn't that she was nothing like the Gorgon of legend, – although some of her ornaments did depict snakes – but that couldn't have been further from the benevolent goddess she pretended to be. Furthermore, Archer was essentially free to go on with her shenanigans due to having high ranked Independence skill.

To name one example of her Servant doing however she pleased, would be how Cecilia wasn't the one who supplied the clothes the girl was currently wearing, but rather random people she charmed using one of her skills, called 'Alluring Nightingale', rather than Cecilia herself as she had wanted it. If Cecilia had to describe her within a sentence, the term 'Wolf in a sheep's pet' would instantly spring to mind.

'_Why would I help mortals with tasks as menial as these.' _she replied in a tone that suggested that she honestly didn't understand why her Master made such a fuss about her not helping with her own, mostly unnecessary, luggage.

_'__Why would you even need all of that?! It's going to vanish the moment you have to fight anyway. Besides, who said you will spend enough time in your physical form to wear even half of that?!' _Cecilia sighed.

'_What a stupid thing to say, Master. How can I show people how adorable I am if they can't see me? After all, I am a goddess, it's only natural for people to worship me.__'_

'Cecilia just gave Archer a dumbfounded look, wondering what one thing had to do with her clothes bursting the moment she turned switched to her spirit dress. 'You really are impossible.' the half-french said while letting out a hearable sigh, much to Euryale's visible displeasure, which made the unaware driver wonder whether everything was fine between the two.

'_I may not be the exactly the strongest heroic spirit there is, but summoning me – a goddess – is still a feat you wouldn't be able to accomplish without being highly compatible with me.' _Euryale grinned at her with a taunting expression._ '__In other words, deep down you and are pretty much the same.'_ she then pouted.

'_The day I treat James the way you treat people is the day hell will freeze over!'_

_'Yeah, Yeah.'_ Euryale winked her off. _'__You mean the same James, you are about to bring into a precarious situation by being a master?'_ she transmitted in a cheeky tone. _'__I wonder if that still falls under neutral.'_

'_Just shut up and let me do the talking.' _Cecilia warned.

'_In other words, you don't want me to interrupt so you can sweet talk him into doing your bidding?' _Archer's voice turned cheeky again and she gave her Master a wry smile. _'__Quod erat demonstrandum, as the Romans would say.' _Then she smiled a bit more._ '__If you want to I can give you a few pointers on how to easily charm him.' _

'_Please just let me handle it…'_ The magi replied weakly while trying to keep the level of annoyances around her in check. However, in the end, she didn't have anything to refute the Servant's point. At least not for the moment.

Then, the car stopped in front of the church. While unbeknownst to her, that the church still felt haunted not too long ago, it looked almost new to her and had regained its former beauty. And while both of them were still able to pick up bad vibes from the old stone building, it would look completely normal to the average person. At most, they would think that the graveyard gave it an eerie vibe during nighttime. However, even the darker color they went with for the renovation managed to turn that natural ominousness into beauty.

While the building's exterior had been restored to its former glory, the inside left both with a feeling of awe, however not in a positive sense.

Most of the benches were never replaced after the fight that took place between the former mediator and one of the Servants, so a lot of them were broken while others looked as if they would break even when someone as light as Euryale would take a seat on them, and even the altar was in a clear state of disrepair.  
If Cecilia had to guess, the only reason the knights outside allowed her to enter the building, with it being in this state, was her relationship with their commander. Had it not been for her engagement with James, they would probably have turned her away until they had managed to clean up that mess.

'Can you believe the impudence?' Archer complained with a sour expression. 'To let a deity, like myself, lay eyes on a place of worship, in such a rotten state?!' 'What kind deity allows their followers to be this negligent to begin with?!'

'It hasn't been in use for a long time, Archer. And frankly, that's no wonder considering what has happened here.'

'That's still no excuse!' Euryale fumed.

When they walked on towards Jame's study, they suddenly heard noises coming from the other side of the door, one of which Cecilia instantly identified as her future husband's.

'Seriously Caren, drop it!' They heard him shout through the door in a struggling voice that sounded as if he was struggling.  
Cecilia tilted her head to the side and put on a confused face, before opening the door to the source of the commotion.

* * *

'Seriously Caren, drop it!' James fumed while he tried to fight her off without hurting her, which proofed exceedingly difficult with half his body already being bound by the Shroud of Magdalene, a holy shroud with the power to forcefully bind men.

'And what do you two think you are doing?!' A familiar voice echoed through the room from the door.

Both James and Caren froze in the spot, looking towards the new arrivals.

'This isn't what it looks like, Cecilia…' James said in a distressed tone, while his second arm got entangled too, due to him not trying to fight the shroud off.

Cecilia just crossed her arms, and repeatedly hit her elbow with her left pointer finger, while her expression clearly showed how mad she was at him right now. On the other hand, the person behind her just held her left hand in front of her mouth while looking rather amused.

James had to admit, that the scene must look everything but innocent to whoever would enter it right in the middle, and was glad that Caren was at least still wearing her robe, rather than her Uniform, as she had removed its skirt a long time ago. And despite James' best efforts to avoid it, Carens Holy Shroud had managed to tie him up pretty well, while, at the same time, his shirt was completely turned around and only still covered his left wrist. Meanwhile, Caren had already put her hands on the tattoo-like Command Spells on his back. The only thing he could hope for was that, for a change, Caren would keep her blunt trap shut until James could diffuse the misunderstanding.

'Obviously, it looks like a tie-up game, even a blind person could see that.' However, that's no-'

'Please just shut your trap.' James cut in with a huge sigh and had the urge to punch whoever invented the phrase 'Hope dies last.'

Even a few minutes after Cecilia and her Servant sat down, he could still feel the pressure in the air.  
Cecilia put herself opposite directly opposite of him and has crossed both her arms and legs, while she still continued to show him just how mad she was by nervously tapping her elbow. Elseways, her Servant was resting her elbows on her legs in a Gendo-Pose, while watching the scene with visible amusement while also checking out the dozens of Command Spells which covered James' torso.

Caren, of course, sat there as if she were calmness impersonated, and kept staring at Cecilia with an almost emotionless expression as if she was completely innocent for the situation and just innocent bystander, watching James' and Cecilia's lover's quarrel.

James on the other hand, couldn't help but look at Cecilia's wrist that now featured three Command Spells shaped like Stargazer Lilies, her favorite flower, although she usually preferred the blue variants compared to the now red Command Spells.  
Under normal circumstances, he would have given her his mind about them, but right now he was in no position to complain, thanks to his co-worker. Moreover, he wanted to avoid making their fight more serious than it already was with Caren around to make things worse as she had a talent for making precarious situations worse.

'And you honestly want to tell me that she had to tie you up to check on that myriad of Command Spells?! ' Cecilia snapped while making him feel as if she was sitting on an elevated throne. 'Do you think I'm dumb?!'

'That is exactly what happened though.' James answered with a stern face.

'There is no reason for you getting tied up and stripped for that though!' Cecilia gave him an extremely sharp and judging glance.

'That's beca-'

'He resisted, ' Caren interrupted bluntly. 'so I took things into my own hands.'

'Please...Caren… Just shut up…' James sighed defeated.

'I am merely stating facts. Even you should get that.'

'As you can see, Cecilia, this outrageous woman here is really that oblivious to the situation or simply doesn't care at all. 'James sighed again while pointing at Caren with an open hand. 'And in case you haven't noticed, that sash is special too, so even that frail-looking woman could bind someone such as Hercules with it.'

'I highly doubt that…' Euryale muttered but got ignored.

'So please Cece, can I put my shirt on again now?'

'Getting a cold is your punishment.' Cecilia kept going in an extremely mad tone. 'And you still haven't explained why you are covered in those.' she said while pointing at the approximately ninety-somewhat command steals all over his body, forming a large flame.

'There isn't much to say about it. They are almost all the Command Spells the church has gathered over the years.'

'Talk about painting a target on someone's back.' Archer noted and made an expression as if she had just said something really sly.

'Let them come… I'm ready.'

'Oh? What a confident mortal you have as a mate, Master.' the Servant ignored James and addressed Cecilia in a pure and benevolent sounding voice.

'_Mortal'_James thought.

''Anyhow, I actually just thought I'd be courteous enough to officially register. Cecilia said with a hint of impatience in her voice. 'However, now I'm not sure if I actually want to leave you alone with _her_.' she added while giving Caren a sharp look.

'Look, you got it all wrong… Besides, Lorelei is here too. I just let her rest for a change. Or do you suddenly have something against her too?' James said while getting up to get the book, a feather and a quill, then sat down and starting writing Cecilia's name into it. - All with one free hand as he was still bound by the shroud. 'Archer Class, going by the hint of ancient Greek, probably Greece. And while it's impossible to summon Divine Spirits I'll just note you down wit a potentially. So who do you claim to be? Themis, Artemis, Athen-?'

'Don't you dare comparing me to those fakers.' The Servant suddenly lost her cool for a moment, when James wanted to mention Athena, but quickly put up her cute-charade again. 'Unlike those poor excuses, I am a perfect goddess. And unlike my looser sister, also light and cute(*), just like a girl should be.' She then smiled. 'A bona fide ideal goddess.' she added with a mixture of pride and haughtiness while giving him a wink. 'Aren't I cute?'

'Whatever…' James answered due to a loss of words, causing the servant to look surprised for some reason, although James could have sworn she tried to use some kind of spell on him.

'Annoying, self-proclaimed pagan goddess it is.' Caren took the book away from James and actually wrote that in the name field.

'Why you little…' the Servant fumed and turned into her spirit dress, which turned out to be some white and black toga dress. 'You really want to pick a fight, do you now?'

'Did someone say something? I can't hear anything up here above the 140 cm mark.'

James deadpanned, 'You used to be rather small yourself, you know…' and then took the book back from her and sighed. 'Don't worry, it's magical, it will get her humor and just erase it. Besides, as much as I'd like to see someone shutting that big mouth of Caren's, I'll have to punish you if you start a fight in here.' James added with a tone that made it clear, he actually believed he could fight the Servant, then he turned back to his fiance. 'See? You know me how long now? Do you honestly think THAT is my type?!' And pointed at Caren with his thumb.

'If she didn't you wouldn't have to defend yourself.' Caren closed her eyes. 'It doesn't matter though, God will forgive her bad taste in men eventually.'

'Please...Just shut your infernal trap.' he resigned in an annoyed tone and then turned his eyes back at his fiance, to whom he spoke in a normal tone again. 'And you please Stop, Cecilia, you can't live here unless you yield those Command Seals of yours. - Although I'd prefer if you did that. - In any event, the moment that woman opens her mouth, no one would actually care enough anymore, so you don't have ANY reason to worry at all.'

'I'm still mad at you. End of story.' Cecilia finalized and then stood up, 'Archer, we are going!' and stomped out the room, not even waiting for her Servant to get up.

The Servant on the other hand just leaned forward and whispered with a sly smile. 'The sacrifice you make when asking for forgiveness better be expensive, thee-hee.'

'Have I seen you somewhere before?' James asked when he saw her face from a closer angle.

'Unless you were already alive several millennia ago, I doubt that.' And then whispered in a volume she thought no one could heat' Although, you'd have spent your life as a place for pigeons to rest then, thee-hee.'

'ARCHER!' Cecilia shouted from outside.

'My, my what a troublesome human to have as a master. Χαῖρε, mortal.' Archer sighed shortly before her physical form evaporated into a beautiful shimmer of golden particles.

Once he was sure the Servant had left, he turned his head into Caren's direction. 'Are you satisfied now?!'

'I have no reason to feel either guilty or satisfied. But if she leaves you, I can com-'

'NO!' James snapped at her, having a good idea what she was about to say. 'Don't get overconfident just because you've had a growth spurt. No sane man would actually fall for someone as wicked as you are.'

Caren, who was a few years older than him, actually used to be much smaller than she is now a few years back, and just grew taller comparably recently. While she was definitely out of her growing age when it happened, James attributed that to her general poor physical condition.'

'I am no more or less confident than I've been before. Even you should realize that.' Caren sighed.

'Anyway,' James took a deep breath to calm down, while he put on the priest robe that was conveniently waiting for him on. 'Anyway I'll keep going, otherwise, this building will never get cleansed. Meanwhile, you better stay out of my sight. I don't give a crap whether you feel guilty, this is one-hundred percent your fault. Go to bed or do whatever, I couldn't care less. Just stay the hell away from me. I have enough problems figuring out who this would-be divine spirit of an archer is, I don't need my fiance to start hating me too.'

* * *

At the end of the week, the church was finally ready to be reopened, in silence and all the dark energy was gone.

With things as they were, a silent opening was the better option. - Otherwise, people might actually get caught up in the Grail War. Besides, James didn't intend to stay afterwards, which would raise further suspicion on top of it suddenly re-opening, when – and he was sure it would happen – strange things were going on inside the city, due to the ongoing battle royal between the Servants.

With two more days of free time, until the Grail War starts, and his desire to be as far away from Caren as possible, on his hands, James decided to take a day off and walk through the city, wondering where all the Masters would hide or barricade themselves. And although he'd still prefer it if both of them would abandon this foolish death game, he also wondered where Emilia and Cecilia were staying.

While people would argue that the Grail war isn't a death game per se, it is pretty much always how it turns out. In fact, Assassins pretty much specialize in that, and cutting a Servant off their supply of Mana is easier than fighting them, so the Grail Wars endangering the Masters more than the Servants is actually a rather logical consequence.

As he kept thinking, he suddenly saw a Chinese restaurant and stopped while reading the board.

'Mna-Po tofu sounds like a good idea for launch…' he thought.

After a good meal in that restaurant, James continued his stroll through the area, occasionally taking a public transport. Suddenly, he stood in front of a mansion but quickly walked on after reading the plate, back towards the church on the other side of the city.

`James thought 'Right… Tohsaka… That's one of the names of the last war's surviving mages, if Caren is to be trusted. Which one was the one with the Servant again? Matou, or something like that… Let's hope they don't become a problem after all… Seeing this Mansion… Knowing Cecilia and Emilia they probably rented a house or a mansion too… At least I can't see either of them living in a cave.'

Then James stopped and turned around. All this thinking of caves, made him want to make one more stop before returning back to the base. Since he was already on this side of the town, he could as well check up on the magus generator under the temple mountain, known as the Holy Grail. It wasn't that he expected any trouble there, as the cave had been prepared in a way that made it impossible for anyone forbidden to enter to begin with. It was more an issue of peace of the mind.

Still, theoretically, at least two mages would be allowed to enter, although not until a certain point in time, three of the Einzbern's were still alive after all. Three families, all in decline, and yet they couldn't be locked out of this cave for some reason. Either that was influence within the Mage Association or had to do something with the cave itself – James had no idea and didn't really care for the reason either.

Once he arrived near the cave in the temple forest James carefully scanned his surroundings, to make sure no one saw him, as he wasn't exactly inconspicuous in his priest robes.

'Great it's bloody dark in there...' he thought out loud and pulled his phone from within his robes, activating the flashlight right afterwards.

Ah he walked deeper into the cave he observed the damage done during the final moments of the last Grail War, and was instantly happy that the mage association had repaired it back then. Furthermore, the Church decided to reinforce the cave to further stabilize it.

That moment it dawned on him. He could have just turned on the lights. He was so preoccupied before that he completely forgot about how the way up to the Grail's chamber could be lit with fire~colored torches from the entrance and the Grail's cavern. However, now it was too late, he was already too far in for it to make sense to turn around.

A few minutes later he was greeted by the sight of the golden sphere that was the magus generator embedded in its socket. Unlike, the demonic construct it had previously turned into, the restored grail was a majestic sphere, made from something James assumed to be obsidian with golden depictions of what seemed to be angels in its only opening.

However, he knew that he shouldn't have been surprised at all, considering that whatever evil had previously occupied it got, allegedly, purged from it before the sphere was carefully put back together. And yet, James couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the construct before him. Despite how this thing was supposed to work, the Masters were able to summon Anti Heroes even before it got corrupted, which, from in his understanding, lead to the Grail getting corrupted in the first place.

Moreover, other side effects still remained. As the ritual has never been properly completed, the generator in front of him was now active for way more than just two weeks, and also went into emergency mode, supporting 14 Servants instead of the usual seven.

'The moments when you wish you'd have a nuclear warhead on hand… Mediating this will be a real pain…' James sighed out loud while also getting one the Black Key, Caren insisted on him taking along, out of his pockets, forcing the blade to appear almost at the same time. Then, he raised his voice loud enough for it to echo through the entire chamber and spoke as if he was a medieval noble commanding one of his castellans to take action. 'Come out and identify yourself before I come get you.'


End file.
